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Anyone switch to PT after LO?
I can't get it out of my head that I think I would be a better mother and employee if I was allowed to go PT at my current job. I haven't spoken to anyone at my office about this, but I've thrown around the idea to DH and my friends. I like my job, I like the people I work with but I don't LOVE it here. This job has become a paycheck to me and I have found that I can get my job done very well in a short amount of time and would be able to do almost everything that's required of me on a PT schedule. How crazy am I to bring this up to my boss? Has anyone done this? If they rejected it, did it affect how you were treated there? We are looking to buy a house this year, so I might wait until that's settled before I do anything but it's something I think about every day, and I just don't know if it's worth it.
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Re: Anyone switch to PT after LO?
There are definitely trade-offs to going part-time. I reduced my hours from 40 (really 50-60) to 32 after having DS. It was an official employment option at my organization, so I wrote a memo proposing it and had my supervisor and HR sign off on it.
Pros: Gained 2 hours in my day, worked a job that I enjoyed, had built up credibility with co-workers that I could get the job done in fewer hours.
Cons: 20 percent pay cut, having to really prioritize job tasks means saying no to assignments, which can mean missing out on interesting stuff or sometimes the boss is less than pleased. I felt like I had "part time" stamped on my forehead!
I think it never hurts to ask if it's something you think about every day. In some scenarios saving 20 percent of someone's salary while retaining their experience is a win-win situation. I really enjoyed working 32 hours a week, but as you may have seen from the Nest, I'm looking for a new job and that will be FT since I've decided to change things up and decrease my commute time instead of hours worked.
After I came back from maternity leave, I negotiated with my boss to be a 0.80 FTE and therefore I get 80% of my salary. I work Mon-Thurs for 8 hours each day and I get every Friday off. I absolutely L-O-V-E my schedule and it gives me the perfect work/life balance. I honestly don't know what I would do without my Fridays.
My DCP doesn't allow you to pay for part-time care so I still send the kids to daycare on Fridays. I call Friday my "mommy sanity day". It's the day that I get all of my "stuff" done: doctors appointments, grocery shopping, pre-cooking meals for the next week, errands, cleaning, laundry, paying bills, organizing the house, getting my hair cut, and going on lunch dates with DH. Then on Saturday and Sunday, I totally commit my time to the kids and DH without having to also try to get other stuff done. It makes me feel that on weekends, we can actually have quality time together.
So, with all of that being said, I would say to definitely ask for it. As far as how other people view me at work, I think most people respect me as a professional. They know I only get 80% of my salary so it's not like I'm getting something for free. Also, if they wanted to be part-time, there's nothing stopping them from asking for it too. I am very professional about it and when people ask about scheduling meetings or so, I just say "I'm not in the office on Fridays".
I've been doing this for over 2 years now and I hope to do it for the rest of my life. It works really well for me and my family.
I went PT for C's first year and loved it. I'm a fed, but there had been a precedent of doing this in my office and my supervisor is crazy flexible about this sort of thing.
Pros: Time, obvs.
Cons: Cutting out almost all goof off time during the day. Missing a lot of meetings that fell on my days off. Lower salary (I was able to keep most of my benefits, but investigate how going part time changes your options, like insurance).
It seems small, but the missing meetings thing was actually a big con. I think if I had been PT for longer, that would have grated on my coworkers quite a bit.
When the LOs were around 8 months, I asked to have every other Friday off and take Leave Without Pay on those Fridays (I essentially took a 10% paycut. However, if I work extra during the week, I can take less LWOP and get paid more). It's been perfect for us for several reasons:
--It gives me extra time with the LOs.
--The 10% paycut isn't that noticeable in my paycheck.
--Last summer, I used vacation days so that I had every Friday off. However, I got the feeling that I was starting to be seen as a part-time employee, which where I work could result in less desirable projects coming your way b/c of the fear you weren't available for clients. I was afraid that in rough times, part-timers would be the first ones cut, and I couldn't risk that. So, this schedule has worked great. With this schedule, people still see me as full-time, even if I have a bit more time off.
--We still pay the same amount for daycare, so occassionally, we've sent the LOs to daycare so DH and I can get stuff done on my Friday off or go to dr's appts.
The PPs reminded me of something--think about what you'd want your part-time schedule to be. Would it be shorter hours every day? Or a day off each week? Think about not only what works best for your organization but also for you.
For me, going to shorter hours wouldn't work. I already need to leave by 4:15pm everyday to get the LOs on time, and there are many meetings I have to miss or call into from the car b/c a lot of meetings happen at 4:30-5pm at my organization. If I also wasn't available earlier in the afternoon, that would cause even more problems. It's easier for people just to know that there is a day when I'm not in the office (and I do make myself available on my day off for calls during my LOs' naptime and I check email all day and respond to message, but if I work on that day, I get paid extra. If I wasn't getting paid, I wouldn't make myself available.)
I think it really depends on your company and type of work.
I only did PT for 6 weeks after LO was born as a transition back to work but it didn't work nearly as well as I'd envisioned. I was in consulting and the company was supposedly very part-time and working-mom friendly (won awards, etc.) but in reality it was really difficult. I had been there 3 years and had a great reputation yet I felt like people didn't really respect the time I wasn't in the office - it wasn't directly stated but I felt a lot of pressure to be available, responsive, and working on things on my days off. I was the primary caregiver for DS on my days off and would say repeatedly that I wasn't able to work since I had DS, but it never really got through.
I also talked to other moms who were PT and they said that they were working closer to a FT schedule with PT pay, but they still liked it better than being FT because at FT you were expected to work closer to 50+hrs and this way they were around 35hrs (but at 50% pay).
I've since changed companies and think my current setup would be more accomodating to a PT schedule and I might consider it at some point down the road. I love the idea of having more time at home but not losing my work self.
I would try to talk to other women at your company that currently work PT, especially any that made the change from FT to PT, to get a better idea of the pros and cons. I think it can vary so much depending on the people you work with and for, regardless of company policies. GL and keep us posted on how it turns out!
I did after DD1. It's been awesome for my family.
I work 80% and work in the office M-H and telework on Friday. Friday is my "make up" day, so I work any additional hours I need to get to 32...but, I'm in consulting, so I only get paid for the hours I work. If I need to work more than 32 in a given week, I get paid for the hours above 32 and if I need to "take off" and only get paid for 30 or 28 or whatever, then I can do that too. My stated goal is 32, and as long as I am doing my job, no one really cares how many hours I'm working. Since I am in the office the majority of the week, most of the people on my project teams don't even realize I'm part-time.
As a nod to the flexibilty my boss/company allows me, I am available after (my) hours a bit more than most but it's mainly because right now I am managing my team on some medium-sized construction contracts and construction doesn't work part-time, lol. Most of my clients start their day by 6:30, so I check email (and respond if needed) first thing when I wake up. The contractors are often still working after 4 pm (when I leave for the day) so I always check my email in the evening and right before I go to bed just to make sure I keep things moving and I'm not the bottle neck (my phone is company paid). If I have to have a late meeting, I usually know ahead of time, and switch pick up with DH. I don't think it has hurt my career goals or responsibility level. I plan to stay part-time for a very long time - don't know if I'll ever go back to true full-time.
Like vtkendra, I have to pay for full-time DCP, so I use Friday to go to the grocery store and run a few other errands. The weekend is for family time (other than a few hours I spend cooking for the week on Sunday).
I agree with others that it can depend on your company, the culture, and your rank. At my company, I'm an individual contributor and I'm not involved in a lot of meetings. So, it's pretty easy for me to be off on Fridays. Also, we don't have laptops or company paid phones so it's not a place where you are expected to be available 24/7. I also set the precedent very early that I wasn't getting paid on Fridays so I wasn't working on Fridays. I don't check my email and my boss has never called me on a Friday. Also, my immediate boss is very supportive so he "covers" for me on my day off. He'll respond to certain emails and say "Kendra is not in today but she'll review it on Monday". So, I feel that I have their support.
Career-wise, I was offered a promotion to a management position but I knew that if I took that position, it would basically require me to come back full-time which I didn't want to do. So, I have made "sacrifices" in my career but I don't really see it as a sacrifice, I'm basically doing what I want to do.
I'm not on PT, but I work different (and, probably less) hours than my office, and exercise 4 hrs per week of telework.
I'm not treated differently at all, and it has been awesome.
This is the number one reason that I won't go part time. In my industry, when cuts are made, the part time folks ALWAYS seem to be the first to go. I think management assumes that if they only need to work part time to get the job done than they can probably eliminate the position and spread the work out amoung other full time employees while saving money.
I would love to work part time, but the fear of losing my job when/if times get tough, prevents me.
This describes my office exactly. While the company is known for being very parent friendly, my team is much different. Many mothers have had to leave because of their decision to work PT. When I talked to other mothers, and eventually my management, about the topic, it was explained that they just couldn't offer that option. If I wanted to work PT, I would have to find a new team/client and in this market, I decided to just remain FT and change my hours.
This is really good advice. That was the other angle I took when I met with my boss. I asked if we could try it for 3 months and then re-evaluate after the 3 months. That way, it wasn't like she locked into it forever. After three months, I scheduled a meeting with her to discuss the arrangement and she said, "It's working great. You can stay as part time." and the meeting lasted all of 2 minutes.
Let me just give a shout out to having Wednesdays off--I absolutely love it! I work the other 4 days for a total of 32 hours. I like being in the office on Friday because we get to wear jeans on Friday and its just a more casual day, so I didn't want to give that up. I also switched jobs (same federal agency) to something with little travel and that is a little more boring, but I only have to work 2 days and then I get a day off.
Also, my idea for the day off was to spend time with the kids, so while I do a couple loads of laudry and try to cook for at least 2 nights, my main priority is to enjoy time with them. My other 4 days are regular 8.5 hour days but I have a long commute, so I get little other time with them during the week.
It helps that my supervisor is super-supportive of this and didn't bat an eye when I asked if 32 hours was a possibility. But, I do like the idea of doing it on a trial basis to make sure it will work for all involved. It has been over a year for me, and I think it is working great.
Good luck!